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zebu
(redirected from Zebus)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
zebu (zē`by), domestic animal of the cattle cattle, name for the ruminant mammals of the genus Bos, and particularly those of the domesticated species, Bos taurus and B. indica. The term oxen, broadly used, refers also to closely related animals, such as the buffalo and the bison .
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 family, Bos indicus, found in parts of E Asia, India, and Africa. The zebu characteristically has a large fatty hump (sometimes two humps) over the withers. It is usually fawn, gray, black, or bay. An inferior source of milk and meat, it has great endurance and comparatively long legs and has been used in India as a riding and draft animal. Zebus were first introduced into the United States, where they are called Brahman cattle Brahman cattle, breed of beef cattle developed in the S United States in the early 1900s by combining several breeds or strains of zebu cattle of India. Brahman cattle have a very distinctive appearance with a hump over the shoulders, loose skin under the throat, and
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, in the 19th cent. They are used in Central and South America and are well established in the Gulf states, where they are interbred with domestic cattle to produce an animal that has greater resistance to heat and to ticks than the ordinary domestic cattle and better flesh than the zebu. Zebus are classified in the phylum Chordata Chordata (kôrdā`tə,–dä`–)
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, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae.

Brahman

 or zebu

Any of several varieties of cattle that originated in India and were crossbred in the U.S. with improved beef breeds to produce the hardy beef animal known as the Santa Gertrudis. Similar blending in Latin America resulted in the breed known as Indo-Brazil. The Brahman is characterized by a pronounced hump over the shoulder and neck, horns that usually curve up and back, and drooping ears. Gray is the prevalent colour, with deep shading in the fore and rear quarters of the bull. A red strain has also been developed.


zebu
a domesticated ox, Bos indicus, having a humped back, long horns, and a large dewlap: used in India and E Asia as a draught animal

zebu [′zē·bü]
(vertebrate zoology)
A domestic breed of cattle, indigenous to India, belonging to the family Bovidae, distinguished by long drooping ears, a dorsal hump between the shoulders, and a dewlap under the neck; known as the Brahman in the United States.


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